night outside 14

We got up early on Sunday and headed up Cinnamon Pass road to the Redcloud Peak trailhead.  Hardrock country!  I was pretty beat up so after taking FOREVER to go just four miles we turned around.  Still a good hike and the dog had a blast.

After the hike it was one last stop at the San Juan Coffee Company before making the trip over to Salida.  It was too hot to leave the dog in the van so unfortunately we had to skip High Alpine Brewing.  We did end up stopping at the Tomichi Creek Trading Post in Sargents on the west side of Monarch Pass.  I needed coffee, and I have some ideas for some long Monarch Crest rides where the station may serve as a fuel point.  Very cool gas station and I saw a few touring mountain bike rigs there.

Then it was the usual Elevation Brewing/Moonlight Pizza/Woods Distillery triple header.

For all the years I've been driving to Salida, I've always wondered about the sign for Hayden Creek that you see in Coaldale, maybe 20 miles east of Salida.  We decided to spend our final night checking the place out.  It was getting dark when we pulled up, but we found a great free campsite right along the creek.

It had been a long weekend and everyone slept great in the tent.

The Rainbow Trail runs right through here, so on Monday morning we got up and hiked a nice 5K.

And after all that it was back home.  First four night camping trip on a very long time for me, first one ever for the dog.